If You Were In My Arms
by Nanaki BH
Summary: Barnaby/Kotetsu - Instead of ignoring his feelings, Barnaby decides to find a replacement.


Disclaimer: _Tiger & Bunny _and all associated characters and materials are property of Sunrise and all them sponsors.  
>AN: Written for the "plush/furry kink" square on my kink_bingo card.

If You Were in My Arms  
>By: Nanaki BH<p>

He was in love with him, wasn't he?

What other reason could there be for the way his chest felt tight whenever he thought about him now? The same uneven beard and messy bedhead that made him groan before made his breath catch in his throat whenever he looked at him now. His incessant mothering and pestering remarks suddenly sounded like welcomed concern to him and he didn't know what to do with that.

Barnaby was falling stupidly in love with a stupid old man.

It wasn't his fault, though. It was all Kotetsu's fault for being so damn _endearing_. How long had he been a hero for now? Years, right? He found it impossible to think that no one else had managed to fall in love with him the way that he had; except for Kotetsu's wife, perhaps, but she was gone now, so he couldn't lament to her about how inexplicably attractive her husband was. Bright side was, at least Kotetsu was available.

_Available__? __What__- __I__'__m__not__seriously__thinking__that__we__would__ever__... __We__'__re__partners__..._

It was the same old thing all over again. Barnaby's head would go in loops as he thought about what to do about this intense crush he had on his partner. Sometimes it was hard just to be around him without feeling compelled to do something like touch his arm or just stand by his side and invade his personal space. (Not that Kotetsu even seemed familiar with the term 'personal space'. That made things easier... or harder, depending on how he chose to look at it at any particular time.) He tried not to let these thoughts get in his head while they were on the job, but he worried about what would happen if Kotetsu tried to take another blow for him.

His heart would burst for sure then. And if something bad happened to him...

"I'm getting too attached to you," he mumbled weakly.

Like always, these thoughts culminated at night when he laid in bed and had the most time to think. His own concern was starting to rival Kotetsu's for him. Not since his parents could Barnaby remember caring about another person so strongly, but also never in this way.

Every smile directed toward him, every firm pat on the shoulder made him ache deeply all over to touch and be touched. His fingers would burn at his sides as he clenched his fists and would try to hold back but every move the other made also made Barnaby wonder if the other _wanted_ him to reach out. Surely he wanted him to open up. He was, if only a little bit at a time... but was Kotetsu asking for the kind of attention that he wanted to give him?

Laying in his bed, Barnaby buried his nose in his pink rabbit and wrapped his arms around it tighter, tighter, until it felt like he was about to squeeze the stuffing right out of it. "Kotetsu-san," he murmured, his brow forming a crease. If he thought any more intensely about it without doing anything about it, he was going to pop a blood vessel. There just wasn't any way for him to find a release from the hold these feelings had on him.

Embarrassed, he realized that his thoughts, combined with the fitful tossing and turning he had been doing atop his bed, had caused a bit of a reaction. With a beleaguered sigh, he sat up against his headboard and considered his 'situation'.

This was Kotetsu he was thinking about. His partner.

_His partner..._

That actually wasn't helping. For some reason, it was making him harder, which was not a reaction he was very proud of. To Barnaby, it was like this interest in him had come out of nowhere and now it was making itself known to him in the most obvious and invasive of ways.

The sad part was that this was probably going to keep happening unless he confessed to him and found out how he felt. If he happened to feel the same and they started... _going__out__together_, then these kinds of urges would probably simmer down and his heart would stop going crazy like it did. Except he also considered that the opposite might happen in that case and that things might get worse. He'd probably just depend on Kotetsu more.

Begrudgingly, he had to admit to himself that he really liked it when Kotetsu praised him. Though he wished that it was an innocent need to feel a parent's affection, he knew that the insistent arousal pressing up against the front of his jeans was nothing _innocent_ or simple at all. He shamefully wanted to be held and comforted in his arms; in the strong arms that held the same frightening power as his own.

It was so easy to imagine the kind of safety he would feel in those arms.

His breaths were the only sound in the room, echoing heavily off the walls as his imagination brought him to even more vivid waking dreams. Resting on his stomach, he could imagine himself laying spread atop him, hip to hip, the other's arms around his shoulders as they kissed deeply.

Barnaby's cock twitched anxiously, the slight discomfort of his trapped arousal growing more apparent when he was laying on his stomach. Rolling over, he shed his shirt over his head, hastily tugged off each of his socks, then freed the buttons and zipper on his pants, finally releasing the pressure. They were kicked off the rest of the way and he spread out on his back, resting one hand over his stomach, fingers flexing, tempted to touch.

At his side was the pink rabbit, still warm from being cuddled before. Surrounded by the air conditioned air of the room, his skin prickled, making the hair on his arms stand up, but its warm, fuzzy body felt nice there against him.

Neglected and anxiously awaiting attention, his cock twitched again as if to agree with his current train of thought. As totally perverse as it sounded, it also sounded perfectly normal on some levels.

He just wanted to use the rabbit a little. He knew it wasn't completely unheard of for people to use the oddest of items to satisfy themselves, and one plush toy was probably nothing to some people. His hesitation just came from the fact that the rabbit was a gift from Kotetsu and the others... It felt wrong to want to do anything like that with it and a part of him was urging him to throw it off the bed before he gave into it - but the fact that it was from him _made__him_ want to use it like that.

It didn't really smell like him or anything. It kind of smelled like his bed now, which just smelled like nice, fresh laundry, which was its own kind of comforting smell. Barnaby inhaled until his head felt a little dizzy. Since it was late, every part of him already felt loose and ready to drop into sleep except for that part of him that made his hips ache with the need to _move_.

He prayed that the rabbit could forgive him later for this.

Its fuzzy surface felt wonderfully soft against his stomach as he ran one of its paws down toward his navel. Lifting it slightly, he gave just the barest of stokes across from one hip to the other. It was the kind of touch that made him burn to receive more, the desire to recklessly work his hips mounting until it was almost unbearable. It felt fantastic all over, but it made a good part of him wonder what it would be like to feel the rough skin of his partner's hands running over all the same places.

One of his hands joined the plush's paw, rubbing his fingers firmly over his nipples. Even though he was alone, the hand that was holding the rabbit dropped it in a second to cover his mouth to stifle a loud moan that threatened the quiet of his room.

Unable to control himself any longer, he flipped positions, pushing the pink bunny underneath himself so he could press his cock into its plush surface. One hand remained clamped over his mouth while the other adjusted the toy and kept it held in place as he thrust himself into its soft, inviting warmth. While this felt ridiculously, unexpectedly good on its own, Barnaby could just imagine what it would be like if it were his partner beneath him, holding him close as he pressed deep inside of him.

Or, he wondered, what it would be like if he were watching him do this. He'd watch him quietly and tell him what he should do to feel the best and then he would hold him by the jaw and kiss him in a way that would steal every ounce of his breath.

The more he let his thoughts go where they may, the closer he realized he was nearing his limit. To think that such innocent things were what would arouse him the most... That would undoubtedly be something Kotetsu would tease him with. He wanted him to tease him, so badly, anything - if Kotetsu could see him like this, Barnaby would be happy. What he wanted the most was for someone he could feel comfortable being vulnerable in front of and finally, hopefully, he had found that person in him.

A few minutes later found Barnaby on his back again, the pink bunny held to his chest as he sighed and thought about what he could do to get the stain out of it now. Admitting his feelings would be a lot easier than taking on the kind of embarrassment he would face if any of them ever caught their gift looking like this.


End file.
